El Corte Inglés has bought a 3,100 square metre building in Madrid's Puerta del Sol for an undisclosed sum, according to Expansión.
The asset, until now owned by the US fund Kennedy Wilson, has four floors and the company intends to reopen it and expand its commercial offer in the area. In addition, it does not rule out joining it to building number 10 in the square, also owned by the company. El Corte Inglés has several assets in the area, including its stores in Preciados and Callao, a commercial premises at number 6 Maestro Victoria and an outlet next to Plaza del Carmen.
After the transaction, the department store group plans to refurbish the building and then open its doors to the public, although the commercial use it will have has not yet been decided. Thus, Plaza del Sol and Callao will become the second busiest commercial axis for El Corte Inglés, only behind Castellana and surpassing Pozuelo.
The transaction represents a change of cycle in the group's real estate strategy. El Corte Inglés has been reorganising its asset portfolio for some years now, adopting a repositioning strategy, as in the case of the Méndez de Álvaro centre, or carrying out divestments.
The department store group put some thirty assets up for sale in March 2022 for a value of between 650 million euros and 700 million euros. The company ruled out selling the portfolio en bloc and its divestment strategy involves closing individual sales.
